A federal cyberstalking indictment charges an Ohio man with using MySpace and other Web sites to intimidate and sexually humiliate two Lake Station residents.
Thomas Slapnicker, 26, of suburban Cleveland, used a MySpace page and other sites to invite people to one victim's home for sexual favors, according to the indictment filed Monday in Hammond federal court. Slapnicker posed online as the second victim, using MySpace and other sites to make that person appear to be a racist pedophile, the indictment states.
Slapnicker, who is jailed in Ohio, is charged with four counts of making threatening phone calls Feb. 12 along with two counts accusing him of violating a protective order by interstate cyberstalking.
Slapnicker was arrested Feb. 13 in Ohio, and he will be transferred to Indiana to face hearings in Hammond, according to a news release from the Hammond-based U.S attorney's office.
Slapnicker's alleged crimes were first reported to Lake Station police, Chief Mike Stills said. Lake Station officers called computer enforcement officers from federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Stills said.
"It was just a blessing for them to be able to come and help us," Stills said.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents investigated the alleged crimes, and Cleveland-based agents arrested Slapnicker, ICE spokeswoman Gail Montenegro said. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is responsible for enforcing interstate and international computer crimes.
Maine-based cybercrime consultant Jayne Hitchcock said social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook should require users to verify their identities to prevent such occurrences. Most impersonation crimes would disappear if people needed to give a Social Security number or credit card number to build a profile, Hitchcock said.
"These sites could make it a lot safer for everyone," Hitchcock said.
A MySpace representative offered a news release detailing MySpace's safety and privacy practices. The release notes that MySpace users must have a valid e-mail address and that impersonating another person violates the site's terms of use. MySpace cooperates with criminal investigations, according to the release.
